By Bill Sullivan, GGRT Media Relations
SAN FRANCISCO, CA  (2-10-12) –  For more than two decades the Golden Gate Racing Team has been one of the most recognized racing organizations in asphalt racing venues throughout the west coast. The team is known best for its success in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West where it carries the support of Richard Childress Racing Driver Development (RCR).  Now, the successful duo of Richard Childress and team owner and Jim Offenbach are taking their development efforts one step further with a late model racing development program.

In the coming weeks, GGRT/RCR will begin racing duel venues in conjunction with the NASCAR West Schedule. Offenbach and the boys of the bay will debut a new GGRT/RCR Development Port City Chevrolet Late Model for select events with a handful of different drivers behind the wheel to display their skills before one of the west’s most powerful audiences of spectators and team owners throughout the West Coast.

“We’ve considered doing this for some time and now we have put together a strong operation to make it reality,” said Steve Portenga, Competition Director for the Golden Gate Racing Team. “GGRT and RCR Development will use this car and team as a tool to gear up potential drivers to one day enter the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. The growth of the sport is important to us and finding talented drivers is an integral part of that growth.”

While today they are best recognized for their success and integrity in the NASCAR regional series, the Golden Gate Racing Team is by far no stranger to success in Late Model stock car racing. Since its inception, the team has had numerous victories as well as a championship in the NORCAL Racing Circuit with well known outlaw Lee Olibas behind the wheel.  Additionally, Portenga, GGRT competition director and crew chief, is a two-time NASCAR Southwest Tour champion with great success in the Late Model ranks.

“GGRT has deep roots in Late Model racing out here,” said Offenbach. “We’ve been very successful with a championship and many open show victories. Steve Portenga was very successful in these cars and has a great deal of knowledge to share in this new Late Model program. We should do extremely well and RCR has provided us with great motors for this program so we are ready to go. Let’s go Late Model racing.”

In addition to supplying resources to the Golden Gate Racing Team, Childress is an active force in the development of up and coming drivers. Based in Welcome, North Carolina, Childress spends as much time as possible with Offenbach and the Golden Gate Racing Team when his busy schedule permits him to break away from the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Truck venues. Now one of the sports most successful team owners, Childress believes in grass roots racing as it was where he began back in 1965 when he purchased his first race car for $20. Today he recognizes the importance of the growth of NASCAR and the development of up and coming drivers.

“I’m looking forward to the progress of the Golden Gate Racing Team-Richard Childress Racing Late Model Program,” said Childress. “This program will play an important role in the development of these young drivers.”

The GGRT/RCR Late Model program will compete in as many Late Model races as feasible in conjunction with its busy schedule in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. The team will utilize a number of drivers selected by Offenbach and Portenga to pilot the #21 Chevrolet at venues such as Madera, Roseville, Havasue, Stockton and more.
The new program will debut in just a matter of weeks in Madera. The first driver to strap into the GGRT/RCR Development #21 will be Bobby Runyan Jr. of Denair, California. In 2009 Runyan was accepted into Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle Program and began successfully racing Formula Fords, capturing the 2009 SCCA San Francisco Region Formula Ford Championship. In 2010 Runyan advanced into USAC Ford Focus Midgets and later moved to open wheel modified stock cars where he has continued with great success.

“Bobby Runyan Jr. will be our first driver behind the wheel and should do very well, he’s got a lot of talent,” said Portenga. “Throughout the season we will use different drivers and will announce them accordingly. This is all about developing young talent and getting them exposure on the track and in the headlines. GGRT has all the best tools and personnel to make these drivers successful.”

In addition to the new Late Model program, the Golden Gate Racing Team is geared up to run for the 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Championship with primary driver Michael Self of Utah behind the wheel of the #21 Impala.  Self will be joined in select events in the year to come by North Carolina’s Austin and Ty Dillon who have been signed to drive the GGRT/RCR #31 throughout the season.

The Golden Gate Racing Team/RCR Chevrolets carry the sponsorship of RCR, Bay Bio Diesel and the Golden Gate Meat Company. Additional associate sponsors that support them are the Richard Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma, RCR Street Performance, Hill Meat Company, Corte Madera Tow, Harraka Racing Equipment Sales, Foodcomm International, Signco, Praxair and JW Web Design. The team is grateful for all of the support from their sponsors and looks forward to many which will return in 2012 along with new supporters.

To learn more about the Richard Childress Racing Driver Development program visit www.rcrracing.com All four entities can also be found on facebook, become a fan today. Public relations and media materials for the Golden Gate Racing Team are provided by Sullivan Images Media. www.sullivanimages.net.

Check out the Complete NASCAR K&N Pro Filter Series West Schedule – Click Here

Photo by Pat Brandon
SAN FRANCISCO, CA  (1-4-12) –

The Golden Gate Racing Team has been a one of the most respected asphalt racing teams in Northern California for well over two decades. The organization is known for it integrity, positive representation of the sport and its top quality equipment that carries the famed RCR logo throughout the West Coast year after year.

Richard Childress Racing became synonymous with success and championships with the legendary late Dale Earnhardt and the famed black No. 3 Chevrolet. RCR has earned 12 championships, more than 200 victories, and was the first organization to win titles in NASCAR’s three main series. The team is now known best in the NASCAR Sprint Cup, fielding drivers such as Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Paul Menard in 2011. RCR is also renowned and respected for the consistent performance it delivers to its partners, both on the track and in the marketplace.

In 2012, GGRT/RCR has re-signed Utah’s Michael Self as the primary driver of their competitive #21 Chevrolet. A former go kart racer and late model hot shoe, this will be the second full season for Self with the team that is wrenched by the boys of the bay and headed by the talented Steven Portenga out of their facility headquarters in Bakersfield California.

“I can’t say enough about this entire team and how proud I am to be part of it in 2012 again,” said Self. “I want to thank Richard Childress, the Offenbach’s and everyone involved with this team. They give me the best the equipment and the guidance I need to perform well. This will be our year in the NASCAR K&N West Series.”

Self, one of the most recognized young talents in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West over the past two seasons, will not be alone when it comes to talent within the Golden Gate stable this season. He will be joined in select events by the likes of East Coast stars Ty and Austin Dillon who will field the GGRT/RCR #31 in various events. Ty Dillon is known for his past success in the DIRTcar Series and is the 2011 ARCA Champion. Austin Dillon has just come off his strongest season’s in the NASCAR Truck Series where he earned the 2011 championship. Both young drivers are the grandchildren of Richard Childress and will work with the Golden Gate Racing Team as their national schedules permit.

In 2012 the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will compete in 15 overall races, three of which will be inaugural events and a return to a historic track in Calfornia’s Central Valley. The schedule will stretch from March to November and includes visits to 13 venues in 10 states as the West’s oldest stock car racing circuit celebrates is 59th season.

“The 2012 West schedule is very impressive, ” said Jim Offenbach, owner of the Golden Gate Racing Team. “It’s always great to be going out to new venues and expanding our fan base. I feel this will be the year that GGRT will be present in victory lane. I have a very talented young full time driver and the best crew I could ask for to maintain the great equipment we receive through Richard Childress Racing. Both Richard and myself are looking forward to see what this team can do in the year to come with Michael as well as Ty and Austin. We are very excited about what this team can do in 2012 with three great drivers and the best crew and support staff I could ask for.”

The schedule for NASCAR’s top developmental series features the first series visit to the state of New Mexico, with an event at Sandia Motor Speedway in Albuquerque on Saturday, Sept. 29. The series will also make its first visit to Havasu 95 Speedway in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., on Saturday, April 14.
An inaugural race at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway on Saturday, May 26, will mark one of four road course events on tap for 2012. In addition to the Minnesota race, the schedule includes visits to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah on Saturday, April 28; Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., on Saturday, June 23; and Portland (Ore.) International Raceway on Sunday, Aug. 26.
The 2012 season will feature a return on Saturday, May 5, to Stockton (Calif.) 99 Speedway, which the series last visited in 2006.

A key addition to the schedule is a second NASCAR K&N Pro Series East-West combination race at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. The first combination race is set for Saturday, May 19, with a return engagement on the .875-mile track east of Des Moines on Friday, Aug. 3. Both events are in conjunction with NASCAR Nationwide Series races at Iowa Speedway.

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West begins its 2012 campaign at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday, March 3, and concludes the season back at the one-mile track on Saturday, Nov. 10. The Phoenix races are two of three series events in conjunction with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

Other 2012 highlights include: Four other popular short-track events on the 2012 schedule include The Bullring at Las Vegas Motors Speedway on Saturday, June 2; Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash., on Saturday, July 14; Colorado National Speedway in Dacono, Colo., on Saturday, July 28; and All American Speedway in Roseville, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 13.

“We’re very excited to be going back to Stockton,” said Offenbach. “It’s a historical track in California close to our home and Steve Portenga has a great deal of experience there as both a driver and a crew chief.  This is going to be a year that GGRT is a top runner over and over. We’re ready.”

In 2011 t he  Golden Gate Racing Team/RCR Chevrolets carried  the sponsorship of RCR, Bay Bio Diesel and the Golden Gate Meat Company. Additional associate sponsors that support them are the Richard Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma, RCR Street Performance, Hill Meat Company, Corte Madera Tow, Harraka Racing Equipment Sales, Foodcomm International, Signco, Praxair and JW Web Design. The team is grateful for all of the support from their sponsors and looks forward to many which will return in 2012 along with new supporters.

To learn more about the Richard Childress Racing Driver Development program visit www.rcrracing.com All four entities can also be found on facebook, become a fan today.